Poland

A 13-year-old girl who left her Wimbledon home for school - but never made it - has been officially traced to her mother in Poland. Serena Alexander-Benson had left her home at 7.50am on Friday (May 25), telling her father that she was heading to school. However, the young girl did not arrive at school that morning and a missing persons investigation began. By Sunday (May 27), police had established that Serena had left the UK on the Eurotunnel from the port of Folkestone. She was travelling in the car with one of her mother's female friends, a Polish national who lives in London. At the time it was thought that she was going to be in Poland with her mother. On Wednesday (May 30), the National Crime Agency had confirmed with Polish authorities that Serena was with her mother. CID officers from Wandsworth and other Met Police officers are trying to establish whether any offence has been committed. A spokesman for Metropolitan Police also confirmed that there have been no European … [Read more...] about Missing Wimbledon schoolgirl confirmed to be in Poland with mother

Associated Press Published 6:56 p.m. UTC May 27, 2018 Warsaw, Poland – A group of parents who occupied part of the Polish parliament with their disabled children abandoned their protest of state assistance payments Sunday after more than a month. One of the mothers, Iwona Hartwich, said the demonstrators felt cut off from the world and worried about their children’s health from living in a corridor of the parliament building 40 days. The protesters also said that security guards had made life difficult, limiting them to one bathroom. Cheering crowds greeted the parents as they pushed their grown children in wheelchairs away from the complex Sunday. One supporter, a woman who fought with the Polish resistance during World War II, bent down and kissed a person in a wheelchair. While ending their sit-in, the protesters continued their campaign for more state aid, carrying a banner written in English that said: “Polish disabled children beg for a decent life.” … [Read more...] about Poland: Parents, disabled children end protest

A 13-year-old girl from Wimbledon who vanished on her way to school on Friday (May 25) is believed to be in Poland after leaving the UK by train with a woman. Serena Alexander-Benson was last seen by her father leaving her home at around 7.50am. She told him she was going to school, but she did not arrive. In an updated statement on Sunday (May 27), police said Serena left the UK at Folkestone on a EuroTunnel train with a female friend of her mother's on Friday morning. The woman is a Polish national who lives in London. Read More Latest headlines The 13-year-old has not been missing before and lives with her father in Wimbledon , while her mother lives in Poland. A spokesman for Met Police said: "Detectives are not releasing further details at this stage of the route Serena and the woman have taken, nor of how it has been established that they are in Poland, where Serena's mother lives." He added: "At this stage, the priority of officers is to confirm Serena's exact … [Read more...] about Missing girl, 13, thought to be in Poland after leaving UK by train

LONDON — Polish novelist Olga Tokarczuk won the prestigious Man Booker International Prize for fiction Tuesday with “Flights,” a novel that charts multiple journeys in time, space and human anatomy. “Flights” beat five other finalists, including Iraqi writer Ahmed Saadawi’s horror story “Frankenstein in Baghdad” and South Korean author Han Kang’s meditative novel “The White Book.” Tokarczuk’s novel combines tales of modern-day travel with the story of a 17th century anatomist who dissected his own amputated leg and the journey of composer Frederic Chopin’s heart from Paris to Warsaw after his death. The judging panel led by writer Lisa Appignanesi called the “Flights” a witty, playful novel in which “the contemporary condition of perpetual movement” meets the certainty of death. Tokarczuk is one of Poland’s best-known authors. She has been criticized by Polish conservatives … [Read more...] about Poland’s Olga Tokarczuk wins Man Booker International Prize